Maungdaw, Arakan- A Myanmar military battalion commander is squeezing money from the villagers of Thit-Taw-Nar-Kwa-Sun and Razar Bill (Nan-Ra-Raing) in region 2, northern Maungdaw, for saving a home belongs to a Rohingya from getting torched by a group of extremist Buddhists.

“Around 8:00PM on 28th March 2014, a Mro Buddhist group sneaked into the eastern part of the village of Thit-Taw-Nar-Kwa-Sun in Region 2, northern Maungdaw. Then, they tried to torch a home belongs to Shahkhit Ali (son of) Amir Nur Mohammed (Age 32). As he shouted out for help, his co-villagers and the people from the nearby village, Razar Bill (Nan-Ra-Raing), came together for rescue and drove the Mro Buddhists group away.

Upon that, G.E. group (Military Engineers), responsible for constructing roads along the border, informed the nearby Military Battalion. Around 100 military personnel arrived at the village soon only to scold Rohingya villagers and confiscate their sticks.

Next morning (i.e. 29th March 2014 morning), around 10AM, the commander of the battalion summoned the villagers of Thit-Taw-Nar-Kwa-Sun and Razar Bill (Nan-Ra-Raing) to the camp. There, he arrested and detained Shahkhit Ali, whose house was about to be torched, and 9 other Rohingyas from these villages saying “the way you people behaved last night was too much.”

The village administrators of Thit-Taw-Nar-Kwa-Sun, U Nurul Islam, and that of Razar Bill (Nan-Ra-Raing), U Sayedul Amin, pleaded the battalion commander in order to get the detained innocent Rohingyas released. However, the commander demanded a guarantee to pay Kyat 1.4 Millions for their releases from the village administrators. The people were released together with a threat that they (the people) would get arrested again and imprisoned if the villagers failed to fulfill his demand of Kyat 1.4 Million.

Therefore, Shahkhit Ali (son of) Amir Nur Mohammed has now to pay Kyat 100,000 and his co-villagers have to pay Kyat 800,000. And the people from the nearby village have to pay Kyat 500,000″ said a villager.

“This is the price we have to pay for defending our properties and lives. This is a norm here. This is what they call justice” he exclaimed.